


Rain in the Desert

by moonchild69



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time
Genre: F/M, Size Difference, Trans Female Character, deaf Link
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-22
Updated: 2017-09-21
Packaged: 2018-10-22 15:39:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10700007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonchild69/pseuds/moonchild69
Summary: Prince Sidon spies a strange hylian in the marketplace and is instantly smitten.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Since I haven't actually played Breath of the Wild, I'm merging it with elements from Ocarina of Time.

The marketplace at Castle Town was a hub of commerce on a normal day, but for Princess Zelda's birthday the plaza was packed with merchants and wares from all over the world. As part of the Zora delegation, Prince Sidon had been obligated to make a token appearance at the castle first, but hurriedly excused himself at the first opportunity. His sister Crown Princess Ruto had glared at him as he sidled off, fins flaring in irritation at being stuck with the duty of staying for the entire reception. Once outside, Prince Sidon breathed a sigh of relief. One of the guards on duty turned their head to smile at him.

"Managed to escape did you? You haven't changed a bit."

The zora prince offered a beleaguered smile in return, trying to match a name to the guard's face and coming up empty. "Uh, yeah I guess." The guard chuckled.

"Even when you were still a boy you kept trying to sneak out during the peace talks. I'm just glad it's not my job to chase after you anymore."

That sparked a flicker of recognition. Prince Sidon's eyes lit up and he favored the guard with one of his famously winning toothy grins. "Maximus you old dog! Ain't you retired yet?"

The guard barked a laugh and waved him off, remaining at his post as Sidon trotted towards the marketplace.

 

* * *

 

The bazaar was packed full of things far more interesting than listening to the droning voice of the King's herald. Bolts of lusciously dyed fabric, glittering jewelry of which the prince was particularly fond, weapons that ranged from old fashioned to the peculiar, potions of every shade and hue, and off in one corner a mask salesman who had been giving pinwheels to the children free of charge. The prince had stopped a moment to regard a strange bottle and gotten sidetracked by the stall's owner.

"No, I still don't see why ANYONE would want to buy a Poe in a bottle."

The elderly sheikah man glared balefully at him with his one good eye and prepared to expound again on the many benefits of owning such a bizarre trinket, but a flash of blue caught the Prince's eye. Making his excuses to get away from the unsettling shopkeeper, he looked over the crowd at an oddly garbed hylian woman. The clothes she wore bore the distinct cut and patterns of the Gerudo, but the bright blues and greens diverged sharply from the usual earthy ochre hues favored by the desert race. That alone was intriguing, but it was the woman herself that truly captivated the prince now that he looked at her. Tanned skin covered limbs taut with lean muscles and what looked like scars of battle. A true beauty, unlike any the prince had ever seen before. He had to meet her! The crowd parted easily for the zora, as they would for anyone whose chest was higher than their heads. As he drew near, he tried to get the woman's attention.

"Hello, miss? Miss!"

His words must have been swallowed by the noise from all around, as she didn't look up from the clay pot she was examining. Eventually he got close enough to, gently, mindful of his claws, tug the edge of her sleeve.

That got her attention. She looked in his direction, then upwards until she made eye contact, eyes widening. By the three goddesses, her eyes were as blue as the Zora Sapphire! Sidon suddenly felt keenly aware of his heart beating, and breathed in sharply. The two stayed frozen like that for a sliver of time that last less than a second, unsure and enraptured. Sidon broke the ice first, flashing what he thought was a charming smile.

"Hey there! You're a hylian, aren't you? I was hoping perhaps you'd have a moment to talk."

This did not seem to have the desired effect. The girl stared at his teeth, then dropped the pot. The sound of its shattering was audible even over the crowds, and prompted a curse from the other side of the stall. A gerudo woman came around, looked at Sidon, then the hylian girl, and then the broken pot.

"Link. Tell me honestly. Did you smash that pot?" Her voice was quiet, but terse, and she gestured her hands in a rather curious frenzy of complicated gestures as she spoke. So. Link was the girl's name. It sounded strange to Sidon, but most Hylian names did.

"I'm afraid that is my fault madam," the Zora explained before the girl could speak. "I'm afraid I startled the poor thing, it was an accident."

The gerudo looked back and forth at the two suspiciously as Link nodded in agreement.

"...Well alright, but don't do it again! We can't sell broken pots!"

Link touched the back of her head, seeming abashed, which seemed to mollify the gerudo woman who disappeared behind the stall again, leaving Sidon alone with her.

"So... Link. That's a pretty name."

The girl looked at him again, this time smiling. Sidon waited for moment, which stretched out to two, then three moments. When she didn't say anything, he tried again.

"Ah, pardon my manners, my name is Sidon."

This seemed to prompt the pretty blond to makes a series of gestures that reminded the prince of when the gerudo woman had spoken to her. Sidon stared uncertainly. "Uh... Can you... Speak?"

The blonde paused, seeming unsure, then made some more of those complicated gestures. The prince scratched his head, kind of at a loss. He was famously popular with the ladies back home, but this was uncharted water for him.

"I... Must confess, I'm a little stumped."

The girl shrugged and turned away, and Sidon fearing he'd lose her in the crowd touched her arm. "Please don't go!"

Link looked at him, frowning slightly, then pointed to the broken pot and mimed the sweeping motion of a broom. Sidon felt like an idiot.

"Oh, right. Of course." _She must be working this stall. How did a hylian end up working for a gerudo?_ The prince pondered his approach as Link busied herself sweeping up the shards of pottery. Once she was done, she looked back at Sidon and smiled. The prince keenly felt the beating of his heart for a second time this day.

"There are so many things I want to ask you," he says helplessly.

The girl frowns, then with an expression of concentration says "I am working now. Go away."

Sidon is too stunned to react, which ends up saving him some embarrassment as she continues.

"We can talk later. After sunset." She points at a tavern where she is presumably staying.

After a few seconds, Sidon laughs, too happy that they can communicate after all to be offended by her abruptness. "Tonight then. Sorry about the pot." The girl smiled at him, and he waved at her as he walked away.

_Well... I mean, it could have gone worse. Somehow. Surely._

Suddenly he felt something yank his head tail. Hard.

"You had a lot of nerve to skip out like that! I had to tell everyone you were ill!" His sister glared at him.

_Ah. Like that for example._


	2. Chapter 2

As punishment for ducking out of the ceremonies at the castle, Ruto had given their attendants the rest of the day off and took sadistic pleasure out of making Sidon trek to and from their lodgings with every little purchase she made at the bazaar. A strong back and bulging muscles kept the lifting from being a problem, but by the time the sun set his feet were sore from so much walking on dry land, but he managed to find his way back to the stall where he'd met the girl as the merchants began closing up their stalls. There was Link and that gerudo woman from before, taking apart the stall with practiced efficiency. Link saw him before the other woman did and waved at him. Putting down the poles in her arms, she skipped over daintily and smiled at him before making a series of gestures that, together with her facial expressions, even Sidon was able to interpret. Why was he here and not at the tavern?

"I thought I could help you close up," Sidon offered gallantly despite his body's protests. The gerudo woman interrupted.

"We'll get the stall done faster if you just stay out of the way, if you want to help you can load the cart." She jerked a thumb behind her at several already packed boxes, and Sidon groaned internally at their size, but couldn't bring himself to rescind his offer. Besides, the slightly impish smile Link gave him as she returned to work made it worth it. Eventually everything was stowed away and Link ran off to retrieve one of their horses from the stables to pull the heavy cart. Sidon offered to go with her, but the gerudo woman bade Link to run ahead and cornered Sidon as soon as she was out of sight.

"I want to know what your interest in Link is," she said frankly, eyeing the zora with blatant suspicion. Sidon's gills flexed in a way analogous to a gulp.

"I, well... I just..." He stammered. What WAS his interest in Link? He hadn't actually thought that far ahead all day. His sister was always deriding him for being too impulsive, but he thought that was one of his finer features. The look this gerudo woman was giving him however made him suspect that 'I don't know' was NOT the right answer.

"She's beautiful," he finally blurted out. The woman eyed him sharply, then her expression softened as she asked speculatively, "She, huh?"

Sidon blinked. "Is that wrong?" He'd be the first one to admit that he had trouble telling hylians apart, but Link had been wearing women's clothes, right?

His answer seemed to mollify the woman though. "No, no, that's right," she said absently as though she were preoccupied. At length she shook her head as though dislodging a thought, her long red hair swishing behind her. "Ah, good enough. For now. I'll be keeping an eye on you though!"

Sidon smiled at the thought of anyone 'keeping an eye on' the prince of the Zoras, but nodded solemnly. "I am Sidon. What is your name?"

"Nabooru," the woman answered, eyeing him suspiciously. "Isn't Sidon..."

"A common name amongst the Zora," Sidon finished quickly, then blinked. Why did he do that?

Nabooru held him with a steely gaze for several moments. "...Huh. Well Sidon, Link is my adopted daughter. If you take advantage of her my tribe WILL find you." She did not need to specify what they'd do to him when they found him for Sidon to understand the implication. The women of the gerudo had a certain reputation.

"Ah, there you are Link! Go ahead and hook him up to the wagon and we'll head to the tavern." As before, her hands went through several gesticulations, which Sidon suddenly realized she had not done while Link was gone.

"Pardon me, Nabooru, why do you do the..." Sidon couldn't find the right word and just waved his hands vaguely, prompting the woman to grin like he'd just said something fantastically amusing.

"It's sign language! Link's deaf as doornail." She reached over and clapped Sidon hard on the back, laughing.

Sidon glanced at Link, who nodded confirmation and smiled cutely at him. She didn't seem bothered by Nabooru's bluntness even though the gerudo had signed everything she had said to Sidon.

A split second later and Sidon realized that the two woman and the horse had already started walking and was forced to rush in order to catch up.

 

* * *

 

 

At the tavern, Nabooru explained. "We gerudo are thieves. Noble thieves, but still. Being able to communicate without alerting our enemies was a useful skill to cultivate. Link was already deaf when I met her, you should ask her about the fight sometime, it's a good story. So anyway, poor thing had been getting by as best she could by reading people's lips and not talking at all if she could avoid it." Link blushed at that, but nodded.

Sidon's lips moved as he thought. "So she wasn't born deaf? If she knows how to speak, why doesn't she?"

Nabooru's face showed plain disapproval, and at first Sidon didn't know why until he saw Link trying to get his attention. Once she had it she made two signs, then crossed her arms and glared sulkily.

"She says, 'Ask me,'" Nabooru translated.

Duly chastised, Sidon turned to Link again. "I am... Sorry. That was improper of me."

This apology seemed to mollify Link enough for her to uncross her arms, which Sidon considered to be an encouraging sign.

He hazarded his question to Link this time, cautiously. "May I ask, if you can speak, why do you choose not to?"

Link makes an extended sequence of signs far too complicated to decipher. Sidon looks at Nabooru helplessly, but she sharply points him back at Link before translating.

"I can't hear myself speak. If I'm not very careful, sometimes I mess up, and people make fun of me. I don't like it."

The last part was expressive enough for Sidon to have understood it even without Nabooru's help. He touches his knuckle to his teeth as he ponders his response.

"Thank you, for telling me that, and for being patient with me." Link smiles softly in response to his words, and even Nabooru seems to approve. He eyes Link speculatively, then grins easily.

"So, how do I ask you on a date in sign?"

Links eyes widen at that, in seeming disbelief at first, but then she laughs and it is just the most beautiful Sidon would swear he's ever heard. She asks him if he's serious, and it's easy enough for Sidon to decipher even without Nabooru's help, and when he answers affirmatively Link shows him, gently correcting his mistakes while Nabooru watches with amusement sparkling in her eyes and making her look like a keaton in the dim light of the tavern.

"Do you like to swim?"

Yes, Link signs. That one needs no translation.

"Meet me outside the castle tomorrow then, when the sun is high! We can swim in the river!" The moat, of course, was out of the question. Link bit her lip in a way that briefly stirred something hungry in Sidon, and she looked pleadingly at Nabooru.

"Go on," Nabooru waves in good-natured defeat. "I can see I'm outnumbered. Bring her back before dark, etc, etc..."

Link chirps happily and hugs the older woman, pressing a kiss to her cheek, prompting Nabooru in turn to wrap Link in a headlock and muss her hair. Sidon can't help but giggle at the wholesome display of affection.

"Alright twerps," Nabooru states, prompting a raised eyebrow from the giant of a zora next to her, "Tell the barkeeper what you want to drink. I'll pay for the first round but after that you're on your own." Link and Sidon both ask for water at the same time, prompting a groan from the gerudo who orders neat whiskey for herself while Link and Sidon giggle conspiratorially to each other. During the lull in conversation that follows, Sidon finds himself watching Link. The way she smiles, the single earring made out of some semiprecious blue stone she was wearing, the abdominal muscles just as hard and defined as his own, the gentle curve of her collarbone...

A mental image intruded on his musings, of sinking his teeth into that collarbone just enough to break the skin and licking the blood off it. _I wonder what she tastes like._ A shudder ran from his head down to his groin as he forced himself away from such thoughts guiltily. Link didn't seem to have noticed, but Nabooru was giving him a look again, and not for the first time Sidon felt like she could see inside his head. It was unsettling.

"Well, uh... I should actually get going. I will see you tomorrow, right Link?" Only after receiving an affirmative nod from the hylian did Sidon depart.

 

* * *

 

 

Link glanced over at Nabooru and signed. You scared him off.

The gerudo snorted. "YOU don't know what he was thinking." She sighed disgustedly and took off the Mask of Truth, tossing it on the oaken table with a clatter, plainly visible now that it was no longer being worn. After some thought, she mutters "Men," as though it were a curse.

Link signed again. Whatever he thinks, his actions speak well of him. Plus, did you SEE how big he is!?

Nabooru rolled her eyes. "Still can't believe you'd even think about dating one of those fish men." Link frowns.

Don't be rude.

Nabooru raised her hands in surrender. "Alright, alright." She orders another whiskey, then smirks at Link. "So, you ready to go swimsuit shopping tomorrow?"

Link's expression of dismay caused the older woman to cackle.

 


	3. Chapter 3

It was late by the time Sidon made it back to the castle's foreign embassy. He paused outside the door to the rooms set aside for zora visitors and looked at the two guards from his and Ruto's retinue who were currently keeping watch.

"Is her royal highness still angry with me?"

Both of the guards seemed to be trying very hard not to make any sort of facial expressions at all in response to the prince's query, and the one on the right answered "I couldn't say, sir."

That generally meant yes in the prince's experience. Ah, well, such is life. He pressed forward, opening the door and ducking his head under the doorframe as he entered the antechamber, the focus of which was the sizeable and controlled temperature pool in the center of the room. The zora quarters were a series of pools connected by submerged tunnels, a safety precaution to thwart any non-zora intruders. The prince eased into the warm water gratefully, sighing in relief as his aching feet were relieved from the onerous duty of supporting his considerable bulk. A cloud of bubbles vented from his gills as he expelled the dry air from his body, and with a surge of fin and muscles he swam in the direction of his bedchamber. As he rounded a corner however, he ran into a monster! With sharp teeth and malevolent, violet eyes!

"Hey sis."

The monster gave an exasperated sigh and flared its fins in irritation.

"I've more or less given up on trying to keep you from sneaking off on your own, but could you at LEAST let someone know where it is you're going? Not one guard or servant knew where you were, for all I knew you could have been kidnapped!"

The princess's words did not seem to have the desired effect on the prince, who laughed and flexed one of his arms.

"If somebody managed to kidnap ME they deserve a ransom."

He tried to swim past her, but she swam along with him towards his chambers instead of falling behind.

"I'm serious Sidon. You might not take our birthright seriously, but I do. The state of affairs in Zora's Domain doesn't just happen on its own, it takes a lot of hard work and harder decisions. I have so much on my mind, and all I'm asking from you is that you give me one less thing to worry about." Her tone drifted from scolding to genuine concern, causing Sidon to turn and really look at his sister. It was easy to continue to think of her as the bossy little brat from their childhood days, but perhaps that was unfair of him. She'd grown, not just taller but in maturity too. The prince sighed.

"Alright. I'll try to make sure at least one person knows where I'm going from now on."

The look of relief on his sister's face triggered a twinge of guilt from the prince. He hadn't realized just how heavily his escapades weighed on his sister, assuming before now that she'd only been flexing the clout she'd been given as the heir to the crown. He sighed, then spread his arms wide.

"Come here," he said resignedly, prompting a tiny smile from the princess as she floated into his arms for a gentle hug. The tender moment lasted until he felt a piercing stab of pain in one of his biceps.

"OW! Fu- Did you bite me!?"

Ruto pushed herself away from Sidon's chest and flashed a cheeky grin that showed teeth still trailing a wispy cloud of pinkish blood through the water. "Maaaaybe!"

Sidon grinned back fiercely and made a playful lunge at the smaller zora, who squealed in delight and kicked away. "Get back here you little piranha, I'm gonna eat you!"

"You'd have to catch me first," his sister replied mockingly before taking off down one of the watery tunnels. Sidon chased after her for a little, but after his exhausting day she was more than able to outswim him in the tight corridors, and he eventually gave up, heading back towards his chambers as his sister's laughter echoed after him. Hauling himself out of the water, he suddenly realized how tired he was and collapsed on his bed gratefully, falling asleep in seconds.

 

* * *

 

 

Nabooru had already gone to bed. She liked to act like a heavyweight drinker and could slam a shot like it was nothing, but the liquor always made her sleepy as soon as it reached her brain. Link had made sure she was safely tucked away in bed before taking a bath. It was good to scrub away the dust and grime from the day and go to bed feeling clean and cozy. After toweling off her skin and hair, she paused before changing into her pajamas to look in the mirror. Turning this way and that, she couldn't help but frown at what she saw. Too scarred, too muscular, too mannish! Her gerudo sisters always swore that she had nothing to be ashamed of, but in the marketplace today surrounded by delicate hylian women she'd felt... Awkward. Some of the looks she'd gotten from a few of the men hadn't helped matters. But, then there was that zora. Sidon. Standing in that giant's shadow, she didn't feel like she was too big or intimidating to be desirable, and the poor thing's awkward attempts to flirt with her were comically endearing. She looked at the mirror again, this time trying a smile on.

_You know what? I'm pretty._

Satisfied by what she saw this time, she put on her soft cotton pajamas and snuggled under her blanket, already thinking about what kind of swimsuit she should get tomorrow.

 

* * *

 

 

Sidon paced nervously as he waited for Link outside, looking up hopefully every time he thought he heard someone approaching. True to his word from last night, he'd told one of the guards where he was going on his way out, though not WHY he was going there. Not that he was ashamed of courting a hylian. He'd have told Ruto himself if he hadn't gotten distracted by their game last night.

 _You could have told her this morning,_ a treacherous thought informed him.

Alright, so maybe he was selfish. He wanted to keep this treasure for himself without his sister's teasing, was that so wrong? He was drawn out of his musing by a softspoken "Aah," sound from behind him.

It was Link, riding sidesaddle on a horse that would have been the envy of a King's stable. Far more interesting than the horse however was Link's outfit. Nabooru had talked her into purchasing a halter top that drew attention to her powerful shoulders, and a rectangle of semi-translucent fabric wrapped around her waist fluttered with the slightest breeze. It took a herculean effort on Sidon's part to keep his arousal in its sheath at the sight.

"You look amazing."

Link blushed at the compliment, and tried to coax her mount closer, but the horse took one look at Sidon's claws and teeth and decided it wanted none of that. It neighed loudly and backed away in protest. Link smiled apologetically and pointed to her feet, at which point Sidon realized she was barefooted. Ah. As Sidon tried to formulate a way to close the distance between them without spooking the horse, the lithe hylian hoisted herself up until she was standing upright on the horse's saddle, arms outstretched for balance. Before Sidon could ask what on earth she was doing, she made a 'catch' motion with her hand and leaped into Sidon's arms. Sidon managed to catch the crazy woman and ended up with her pressed against his chest with her feet hanging off the ground, and looking right into his eyes. This close he could see her pupils dilate, and he was sure his were doing the same. Coughing awkwardly, he hoisted her up so that he was carrying her bridal style, at which point to his gratification Link looped her arms around his neck, smiling.

"You're crazy, you know that?"

The hylian just stuck her tongue out playfully. Sidon rolled his eyes and started walking towards the river, then looked back over his shoulder at the horse, wondering if they should tie it up. It was following them however, though still keeping its distance from Sidon, so he shrugged and kept walking.

Sidon ended up paying Link back for her acrobatic ambush by tossing the hylian into the river with an undignified squawk. She glared at him crossly and splashed him much to his amusement before he waded in after her. At first she crossed her arms and looked the other way, but once he circled her a few times while she kept turning, she eventually gave up on the facade of being angry and smiled at him before ducking under the surface. Curious, Sidon did the same, and together they swam languidly in the gentle current, occasionally surfacing so that Link could breath. It was... Nice. Here and now the language barrier didn't seem so important, and Sidon could have happily spent the entire day like that, playing games and picking over the riverbed for interesting looking stones. Eventually however, Link began to shiver when they came up for air, and Sidon recognized that it was time for the little hylian to return to dry land. The horse was there waiting when they finally hauled themselves out onto the shore, and Link retrieved a towel from her saddle bag. Sidon watched her admiringly as she toweled her hair and made a mess of it, and on an impulse reached over and brushed one of his knuckles softly against her glistening skin.

Link looked up at the touch, slowly lowering the towel and gazing at Sidon with those gorgeous blue eyes of hers. Sidon moved closer and Link let him, kneeling in front of her so that their eyes were even. Link chewed her lip thoughtfully, then signed something at him.

"I don't understand."

Frustrated, she made the sign again, more emphatically. The zora shook his head helplessly, still unable to decipher the sign, when Link gave an exasperated sigh, placed her hands on both sides of his head, then pressed her lips to his in a kiss.

 _Oh_ , Sidon thought. _That sign means 'kiss'._

Once the initial bewilderment wore off, Sidon returned the kiss, deepened it. He tilted his head to one side and Link obligingly tilted hers in the other direction and they tasted each other, tongues touching, tentatively at first then less so. Link cut her tongue on one of Sidon's teeth and he tasted blood. By the goddesses, yes! More of that! The zora's tongue hungrily sought out more of the taste, rich and metallic. Sidon realized suddenly that he was growling and jerked his head back, gills flexing futilely for oxygen. Link looked at him dazedly, pupils blown wide, hair still mussed from the towel, tiny nicks along her lips welling with red.

Sidon touched his head tail abashedly. "Sorry. I got carried away."

The hylian lass touched her lips curiously, a slow smile blooming in her eyes. She shook her head, and Sidon could guess at the meaning of the signs that followed.

I don't mind.

Sidon chuckled in nervous relief while Link ran a brush through her hair to keep it from tangling as it dried. Once she was finished she mounted her horse and motioned for Sidon to follow her back towards the gate. There was silence as they both made their way back. Any time Sidon tried to catch up, the horse shied ahead, so conversation was out of the question. When they got there, Nabooru was already waiting for them outside with two more horses and their cart. Sidon felt his fins flare in alarm and he looked at Link.

"You're leaving? So soon?"

But Link was looking ahead rather than at Sidon, and the question fell on deaf ears. Literally. Nabooru took the liberty of answering the zora's query.

"Party's over. We sold our wares, now we go home. I imagine you'll be going home too before e'er long."

She was right of course, but Sidon had been trying not to think about that. He looks at Link, who looks back at him with a sad smile.

"But I want to see you again."

Link's eyes crinkle in a pained expression before looking imploringly at Nabooru and saying something to her in sign. The gerudo sighs, and scrawls something on a slip of parchment that she then hands to Sidon.

"If you give a mailman those directions, they'll be able to take a letter that will find its way to us. Best we can do for ya, but we can't stay here."

The zora stared helplessly as the gerudo urged the horse hooked up to the cart to start walking down the long road to the desert. Link followed, looking back at Sidon regretfully. Sidon watched them go, belatedly waving goodbye, and eventually, after the pair with the cart were gone from sight, began to walk back to the embassy. Slumped and defeated looking, his sister eyed askance at him as he came in, but didn't pry. Attendants were engaged in a flurry of preparations for the swim home, but Sidon barely noticed. He felt... Detached. Unreal. Like there was a veil of wool between him and his body or the things going on around it. Sitting heavily, he stared at the piece of parchment Nabooru had given him for what felt like whole minutes before he was able to focus his eyes on the writing. Something clicked in his mind, and he beckoned imperiously at one of the attendants.

"Bring me waterproof parchment and ink. I need to write a message."


	4. Chapter 4

It was a long road from Castle Town to the rocky ravine that marked the border between Hyrule and gerudo lands. Three days, two if you were in a hurry and didn't care about your horses. Plenty of time for Link to converse with Nabooru.

No one noticed?

The gerudo woman sniffed indignantly in response to Link's signed question, and answered both in sign and verbally.

"Of course no one noticed. Have some faith in your mother, girl."

The guards were suspicious.

Nabooru rolled her eyes. "Of course they were suspicious. We're gerudo! Let them clap their hands over their purses when we pass. If they're preoccupied with what we might take, then they're not thinking about what we brought in."

Link eyed Nabooru doubtfully.

Smuggling bombchu into the city is risky.

Her mother simply smiled. "But profitable. Hiding them in the pots was a good idea. Lucky thing the one you broke wasn't one of them or we'd have been in a lot of trouble."

Link sighed.

I know. That's what worries me. I don't like doing this.

Nabooru grunted. "You'd rather go back to stealing? Look Link, you're a good girl. It's sweet, but you need to stop thinking like a hylian. You're not one of them anymore, you're one of us, and gerudo law only applies to members of the tribe. Everyone else is fair game. We did good yesterday! We're homeward bound with money to support our king and our sisters, and if some hylian malcontents cause civil uprest with the bombchus we sold them then all the better. The more resources the king of Hyrule has to dedicate to keeping peace in his lands the fewer he has left to encroach on ours."

Link didn't seem convinced, so Nabooru pressed on.

"You think it's better to line up on a field and have a bunch of soldiers butcher each other? If that's hylian honor, I'll stick to crime."

This caused Link to sigh, but she conceded the point with a nod. Nabooru tugged her horse's reigns gently until she was close enough to pat her daughter's shoulder.

"You did good. WE did good. Be proud! Think about what this money will mean to our sisters and how they'll cheer for you when we get home!"

This succeeded in drawing a smile from the hylian. Nabooru gave her another pat on the shoulder for good measure before letting her horse put a bit more distance between them.

"So. Date went well I take it?"

How did you know!?

Nabooru chuckled. "Girl, you showed up looking like you lost a fight with a deku baba, and I know you're too good a fighter for that. Spill!"

Link giggled sheepishly and conceded the point, signing excitedly.

We had a good time. He's so big and strong, but he tries really hard to be gentle. Wouldn't mind seeing him really cut loose.

Nabooru raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "If THAT'S gentle I'm not sure I'd approve of his 'cutting loose'. Still, you're a grown woman and can make these decisions on your own. Might want to keep a red potion handy though."

The gerudo woman didn't need the mask of truth to recognize that the way Link shivered in response had nothing to do with being cold, and made a face.

"You have the WORST taste in men."

 

* * *

 

 The days passed too slowly for Prince Sidon's liking. It took days for his letters to reach Link, and longer still for hers to reach him. Still, writing to each other removed the problem of their language barrier, and he was learning a lot about her. That her favorite color was green, that she liked to play the ocarina, that she had the second best score at the horseback archery range up the hill from where she lived. He also learned that she collected trophies from monsters she had slain and was proficient with a veritable arsenal of weapons, which the prince found far more arousing than he was prepared to admit even to himself. In return, his letters always seemed to be unbearably dull by comparison. Of what kind of fish he'd caught while swimming that day, of how annoying his sister was, of how unbearably smug his tutor was at being right about his calligraphy lessons being useful one day. Still, Link seemed to find his talk of family life and schooling to be interesting, and often had questions about aspects of his life that the prince had never really thought to question before.

Today, he was sitting through another interminably dull meeting about the affairs of his family's domain. He couldn't help but feel it was entirely unnecessary for him to be subjected to these wretched, hours long talks.

_Ruto's going to become the next ruler of our domain, not me. I don't need to know any of this stuff._

His sister was sitting at the head of the table. For all intents and purposes she was practically the Queen already in all but name, for their father these days spent most of his time communing with the living god Jabu-Jabu. She nodded at something one of the courtiers whose names and faces the prince never bothered to remember, then spoke.

"The next order of business is the appointment of a new ambassador to the gerudo. I was thinking of appointing-"

Ruto wasn't able to finish the sentence before prince Sidon jolted upright and loudly announced "I VOLUNTEER!"

The whole room fell silent. Every one of the courtiers and his sister were staring in appalled shock at the sudden outburst from the prince. Ruto was the first to break the silence. "Gentlefolk, may I have a moment of privacy with which to speak with my brother?"

The various courtiers bowed silently and filed out of the chamber until it was just Sidon and his sister with the round table between them.

"What are you up to Sidon?"

The prince balked at her tone. "Up to? Aren't you the one always telling me I should take a more active hand in affairs of state?"

"Yes, and you NEVER listen! Ever! And the gerudo? Really? I can't send you, they'd probably throw you in a cage and hold you for ransom! Not to mention they live in the middle of a desert! The brother I know would never volunteer for such a grueling post."

"Well maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do!" The prince bared his teeth, resentful at being spoken to like a reticent child. The way his sister narrowed her eyes soon made him regret his choice of words immediately.

"I know you well enough, brother, to know that you've not once in your life volunteered for ANY amount of responsibility and shrugged off what little you were given anyhow. I have to do EVERYTHING! It's hard, okay? Everyone is relying on me! Father, our subjects, even you, although you act like it's nothing." Sidon realized suddenly that despite her venomous tone, his sister was trying not to cry.

"Did you ever once think about who your responsibilities fell to when you didn't feel like it? Did you even once..."

Sidon guiltily rounded the table and wrap his sister up in a hug. She beat his chest with her fist, and he let her, until the tenseness in her shoulders softened and she sobbed openly. Eventually, she sniffled and rubbed her eyes. "Thank you."

Sidon smiled sadly. "Least I could do, right?"

The princess laughed. After a moment's thought she asked, "Why did you really volunteer? The truth."

Sidon thought about lying, but he couldn't after what he'd just witnessed. "There's this girl..."

Ruto laughed, and wiped her nose as she stepped back so she didn't have to crane her neck so much to meet Sidon's gaze.

"Now that sounds more like the brother I know. You realize this is a big responsibility? You won't get to come back the second you get bored of her. You'd be there at least a year, maybe longer."

"I won't get bored of her! She's... She's different. Not like any girl I've met before."

Ruto smirked. "Isn't that what you said about Lulu?"

Sidon groaned. "Ugh, you're never gonna let me forget that are you? How was I supposed to know she was my cousin!"

His sister laughed, then looked up at him with a smile. "Alright, ambassador. I'll inform the court of your appointment. You'd better go and pack."

Sidon's eyes widened. "You mean it!?"

Ruto nodded. "Yes, against my better judgement. But you'd better take this seriously! This isn't a vacation, you're gonna have a job to do, with meetings and ceremonies and politics and all the other things you hate, and this time you won't be able to just tune out and let me do all the talking. You'll be on your own. Do you still want this?"

Sidon nodded, and his sister smiled.

"Maybe this girl IS special. Go on, before I come to my senses."

Sidon wrapped his sister in a hug that lifted her feet off the floor. "Thanks sis, you're the best!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Thanks sis, you're the best!"

The zora prince spat out the words in a bitterly sarcastic tone. He and his retinue weren't even there yet and already Sidon was regretting his rash decision to step forward as ambassador to the gerudo. The sun overhead felt unbearably strong, beating down on his scales like the baleful glare of a great old dragon. It hadn't been so bad when they were swimming, but the last leg of the journey was over dry land, and Sidon didn't think he'd ever seen a more inhospitable terrain. The ground was coarse and uneven, and massive red rock formations littered the landscape. The last water he'd seen had been in a deep sinkhole that they hadn't even noticed until one of the giant turtles carrying their supplies almost fell into the wretched thing. And then there was the boredom!

Sidon sighed petulantly and glanced around at the other zora accompanying him, and was mildly gratified to see that they weren't handling the dry heat any better than he was. His sister had sent four attendants with him to help protect Sidon's belongings, and trade goods which he was to use as he saw fit to ensure good relations. The attendants also had the task of herding the two turtles carrying it all, as well as supplies for the journey. At Sidon's insistence, one of his personal servants was also accompanying him on the excursion, a young male by the name of Japas. He and Japas had played together when they were just tadpoles, and as they grew older Sidon had convinced his father to give his friend a job at the palace. Sidon glanced over at him now.

"How much farther do you think until we get there?"

The other zora shrugged in response. "Dunno. I think I heard someone say we'd be there before nightfall though. I hope so, this place looks like it'd be creepy after dark."

Sidon hummed thoughtfully and gave the valley another look. Yeah, that made sense. There was no shortage of pillars casting shadows and boulders providing cover for who knows what. It'd be easy in the dark to imagine monsters lurking just out of sight. The prince shuddered.

"Thanks Japas, that really sets my mind at ease. Dick."

The other zora shrugged, grinning apologetically. "Sorry Prince Bro, I'm just saying."

"Yeah, yeah..." Sidon waved off the apology, and looked anxiously at the sky. Suddenly the sun didn't seem so unwelcome, despite the rasping dryness in his gills. A noise from ahead of the procession drew his attention, and he raised his hand to signal everyone to stop.

"Shhhh! Did you hear that?"

The assembled zora halted, and for three seconds the only sound was of the turtles being ushered to a stop by their handlers. After several long moments, Japas leaned over and punched Sidon's shoulder.

"You trying to give me heart attack? I thought we were about to get jumped!"

The other zora began to utter various sounds of relief as they relaxed, preparing to resume their march. Sidon however did not relax. There was something... It tugged on the edges of his senses naggingly, but he couldn't pinpoint it.

"Just keep your guard up! Something's not right."

Japas rolled his eyes at Sidon's words, but Sidon was gratified to see his childhood friend keeping alert as they resumed walking.

After rounding another corner, they were greeted by the sight of a deep ravine running cross ways against the valley, with a wooden bridge being the only visible means across. One of the attendants smiled and turned to the prince. "There it is! Once we cross the bridge, we're in gerudo territory."

The moment was broken by an ungodly scream that seemed to strike an unearthly chill into the prince's bones.

_What was that!? I can't move!_

The prince's eyes darted about wildly looking for the danger, but the rest of his body refused to budge. There was another scream, but unlike the first this scream was one of pain, and the prince finally managed to force himself to turn around to find the source of the screams.

One of his attendants proved to be the source of the second scream, the poor soul's face frozen in terror. Clinging to the zora was a monstrous, corpse looking creature. Dry, sunbaked skin stretched tightly over withered bones, and a face obscured by a wooden mask. As he watched, the poor attendant who'd been snatched by the creature gave a strangled gasp, seeming to shrivel and lose vitality at a supernatural rate in the vile monster's embrace. The prince looked around desperately. All the others remained frozen by whatever spell the monster's wail had wrought. He looked at the attendant in the monster's grasp again. The poor soul's eyes pleaded at him, and the prince made a decision. Darting towards one of the turtles, the prince rummaged desperately through the bags.

"Weapons, weapons, where are the weapons!"

A croaked death rattle made the prince look up just as the monster released its grip on the attendant, who fell to the ground. Dead. The monster's victim looked as though they'd been sucked dry, now as desiccated as the corpse that had killed them. The creature uttered an evil groan and turned towards the next attendant.

_No, no, oh god no!_

There was no time. Sidon abandoned his quest for a weapon and leaped at the monster armed only with his claws and teeth. The monster was stronger than it's frail looking limbs suggested and bore up under the weight of a fully enraged zora prince. Claws raked across the leathery hide and sharp teeth sank into it's neck, but the damned thing had no blood! The creature wrapped it's arms around the zora's chest. The creature's embrace wracked the prince's entire body with blinding pain, and as his eyes rolled back into his head a thought surfaced.

_Is this how I die?_

The pain seemed to eclipse everything and last forever. As the prince began to lose consciousness, he fancied he heard something against the background of hurt. A song? His eyes closed, and he knew no more.

 

* * *

 

 

Prince Sidon awoke, screaming. _I'm going to die, I'm going to die!_ As his eyes focused however, he realized there was no monster, and he sobbed in grateful relief. "A nightmare. It wasn't real, it wasn't-"

He paused, not recognizing the room he was in. The daub, the colors, it looked gerudo. Had they made it to...

A woman's face appeared in the doorway. "Ah, you're awake. Pity. I had a purple rupee riding on you dying in your sleep."

The prince sputtered at the baldly phrased statement.

"I beg your pardon!?"

The gerudo woman, for she was gerudo now that he looked closely, seemed to take his objection literally.

"Aye, I forgive you. Try not to scream anymore though. I need to go let the king know you're awake. For your own protection, I suggest you not try to leave this room until I get back."

Sidon nodded dazedly, which seemed to satisfy the woman because she disappeared. The prince swung his feet over the edge of the cot and sat up, examining the room more closely.

Off-white walls interlaced with patterns of green-blue and orange-red, a colorful rug in the center of the room, the drab green cot he'd apparently been sleeping on, smells of sand, cloves, olive oil, canvas and... Fish?

He followed his nose to the scent that seemed out of place and realized that somebody had left him a plate of food. The fish were smoked instead of fresh, but he devoured them hungrily anyway, his body recognizing that it need nourishment. There was a sound of someone giggling and Sidon looked up to see a familiar face.

"Link!"

There she was, smiling at him and wearing puffy red pants with a vest to match. Sidon rose to embrace her, but wobbled unexpectedly and would have collapsed on the floor if Link hadn't caught him before he hit the ground. He grinned sheepishly at her and rubbed the back of his head. "Heh, sorry. I-"

Link however interrupted his explanation and his train of thought with a kiss, which Sidon returned once his brain let go of whatever it was he'd been about to say. After it ended, Link smiled and giggled again, signing something at him. It took some further gestures and a few guesses on Sidon's part before he was able to interpret the meaning. Apparently, it was that she could taste the fish on his breath. Sidon laughed.

"First time we've seen each other face to face in months, and the first thing you have to say to me is that my breath smells?"

Link smirked and stuck her tongue out at him playfully. Before Sidon could offer a rejoinder however, the woman from before stuck her head in the door again.

"King Ganondorf will see you now."

Sidon looked at her in dismay, then at Link, who nodded in the woman's direction as though in agreement.

"I... Guess duty calls," Sidon spoke thoughtfully. "But I will see you after, right?"

Link nodded enthusiastically, uttering an affirmative "Hmm!"

Sidon rose once more, testing his weight upon his legs. Once he was sure he wouldn't fall over again, he lumbered after the gerudo woman.

"Let's go meet the king."


	6. Chapter 6

Sidon followed the gerudo guard past rows of daub houses and fortifications to a massive structure carved into the very stone walls of the canyon. As they entered, Sidon was struck by how well lit the interior seemed, far more than the torches alone should have provided. He said as much to his guard escort, who pointed to a nearby recess that glimmered when he looked directly at it.

"Mirrors on the roof catch the light of the sun and reflect it down here," the escort said. "And the ones down here catch light from each other as well as from above. In the last four hundred years, only one person has ever infiltrated the palace unseen."

Sidon was tempted to ask who that one person was, but was distracted as they entered a large, richly appointed room with a domed ceiling. Silks of brilliant scarlet and rich maroon festooned seamless walls scrubbed to a gleaming pale tan. The floor was covered in multiple valuable looking rugs dyed with intricate gerudo patterns, and plush pillows took the place of chairs, forming a circle around a massive table carved from a single slab of acacia wood. At the head of the table was a throne carved out of sandstone, draped in velvet and fitted with gold ornaments.

"Behold, his royal majesty King Ganon-" The guard sputtered halfway through the sentence and uttered something illegible that sounded like a curse in her own tongue. "Blast and scour that rotten child, where has he gotten to this time!" For the throne was indeed empty.

Sidon tried not to smile or laugh, lest he cause offense, as his escort stalked over to the throne as if expecting to find the king hiding behind it.

"Umm, if he's not here right now, would it be alright if I saw my people," the zora prince asked. The guard narrowed her eyes, but then pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed.

"I suppose so. They're in the guest quarters, this way."

They exited the domed throne room through a passageway on the right, ascending a flight of stairs until they drew near a room that was even more brightly lit than the corridors from which the sound of people talking and laughing could be heard. As they approached the guards on either side of the door straightened their posture and saluted. One of them said something in gerudo to his escort, and Sidon ducked inside.

Inside the first thing he saw was Japas, which brought a smile of relief to the prince's face to see his friend had survived the attack. He was sitting cross-legged on a pillow on the floor speaking animatedly with a dark-skinned boy who looked about Link's age, with fiery orange hair and a prominent, slightly hooked nose against otherwise very fine features. Handsome, Sidon supposed.

Scattered around the room were the rest of his revenue, minus...

A sinking feeling tugged at Sidon's gut as he realized that the missing face belonged to the poor soul who'd been grabbed by the redead. He'd never considered that anyone might die on this mission, and he couldn't help but feel like this was his fault somehow. He almost turned to leave, but Japas finally noticed him and wave him over.

"Heya Prince Bro, come on over here! This is the King we came to see, and he's really a chill dude!"

Sidon looked at the gerudo boy again in startled dismay. Of course, there was only one male at a time in the gerudo, right? He should have realized. The King of the gerudo smiled up at him and patted a pillow next to him.

"Please, sit, my honored guest. It is good to see you on your feet after that unfortunate mishap, but you are among friends now. Sit, sit!"

The boy's voice was soft, and totally unlike anything Sidon had expected from the nigh legendary King of Thieves. He flopped on the pillow in dumbstruck silence, whereupon the boy thrust a hot cup of tea into his hands.

"Your majesty!" The voice of his escort sounded behind him. "I must protest, this is highly improper!" The boy king waved dismissively.

"But I'm having fun! Japas tells the best jokes! Have you heard the one about the one-armed lutist?"

Glancing over his shoulder, Sidon could see the guard scowl disapprovingly, but she seemed unwilling to argue in front of visitors. He turned his attention to the boy again to find that he was looking right at him.

"As you may have guessed, I am King Ganondorf, but you may call me Ganon for short."

A quick glance at the guard told him without words that even if the King did not mind, the guards would, so he chose his words carefully.

"Your majesty, I am Prince-"

The boy king waved dismissively, cutting him off.

"Yes, yes, I know all that! We can dispense with the formalities for now, doubtless my subjects will still insist on a proper greeting ceremony once I'm done here anyway. I thought you might like to see your people first, see to it that they're alright. I am afraid one of your men did expire during the attack, but the rest, as you can see, are well and good. The ones who will not be staying with you will take their fallen comrade home for a proper funeral, and I will be sending compensation to their surviving family."

This prompted the guard to speak up again. "Your majesty, we did not discuss this, sending compensation is as much as taking the blame for an attack that we had no part in outside of our-"

The king silenced her with a wave.

"It may have happened on the very edge of our borders, but there still should not have been any redead there. My decision is final."

The guard lapsed into sullen silence, but did not protest further. The king turned his attention to Sidon again.

"At any right, I'll let you have some time alone with your people. Once you are done you will be escorted to the throne room and we can satisfy the proprieties of office." The boy winked impishly, and Sidon decided that he liked him. Rising from his pillow, Ganondorf dusted off his spotless tunic and exited the room along with the guards.

Sidon turned to Japas.

"How have things been, what happened?"

Japas went into detail, telling him how they'd been saved, by Link, of all people. _Is there anything that girl cannot do,_ Sidon wondered. How the prince had lost consciousness during the attack, and how a song had paralyzed the redead long enough to save all but the one who fell during the initial ambush. How they had been escorted into the safety of the gerudo fortress and been treated well while they waited for Sidon to recover.

Sidon frowned, hesitating before he asked, "The one who... Died. What was his name?"

Japas smiled sadly. "That was Mikau. He was a good guy. I'm gonna miss him."

They both fell silent a moment. Eventually, Sidon spoke.

"I should have saved him."

Japas looked up in surprise.

"Hey man, you tried. You did your best! It ain't your fault bro."

Prince Sidon shrugged. "Maybe."

Japas smacked his shoulder. "Hey, none of that! Get your guitar, we're having a feels jam so you can get that out of your system."

This made Sidon smile despite himself. They had time before he had to resume his audience with the king, and music sounded like just the thing for his melancholy.


End file.
